23 February 2011

The plaintiffs in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the landmark federal challenge to Proposition 8, have filed a motion with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals requesting that same-sex marriages be allowed to resume immediately. The "Motion to Vacate Stay Pending Appeal" argues the court's "stay can no longer be justified ..."

The American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and its legal team — led by Theodore B. Olson and David Boies — filed a motion with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit asking that the Court immediately lift an order preventing gay and lesbian couples from marrying in California. That order, issued in August 2010, stayed the injunction issued by the U.S. District Court that barred further enforcement of Proposition 8.

This comes on the heels of a request last Thursday by AFER to the California Supreme Court to expedite the hearing of questions relating to the standing of Proponents to maintain an appeal in federal court. AFER’s attorneys urged the California Supreme Court to hear arguments in May, rather than September.

"We are respectfully asking the Court to lift its stay on marriage for gay and lesbian couples because it has become apparent that the legal process is taking considerably longer than could reasonably have been anticipated," said Theodore B. Olson, co-lead counsel for AFER. "It’s important to remember that the stay was originally ordered with the understanding that the Ninth Circuit would rule swiftly on the case before it. Now that the issue of the Proponents’ standing to appeal has been referred for analysis by the California Supreme Court, substantial additional, indefinite and unanticipated delays lie ahead. It’s unreasonable and decidedly unjust to expect California’s gay and lesbian couples to put their lives on hold and suffer daily discrimination as second class citizens while their U.S. District Court victory is debated further."

AFER also asks the California Supreme Court to expedite its timeline to rule on "standing", which it agreed to do one week ago.

Civil rights icon Julian Bond, who sits on AFER's advisory board, added that the stay is "delaying basic civil rights which is adversely affecting tens of thousands of Californian couples and families in a real way, on a daily basis. It’s simply not acceptable to continue state-sanctioned discrimination and second-class citizenship. Equality delayed is equality denied."